Nonessential and essential workers' median hourly wages, by gender, education, and race/ethnicity, 2019
| Nonessential workers | Food and agriculture | Emergency services | Transportation, warehouse, and delivery | Industrial, commercial, residential facilities and services | Health care | Government and community-based services | Communications and IT | Financial sector | Energy sector | Water and wastewater management | Chemical sector | Critical manufacturing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All workers (ages 16+) | $20.04 | $13.12 | $22.98 | $18.34 | $17.97 | $21.05 | $19.69 | $16.05 | $29.55 | $26.91 | $22.40 | $27.95 | $18.32 |
| Female | $18.15 | $12.45 | $19.20 | $16.91 | $13.16 | $20.00 | $17.88 | $15.11 | $23.98 | $27.60 | $22.91 | $24.44 | $14.81 |
| Male | $22.45 | $14.05 | $24.09 | $19.22 | $18.88 | $25.12 | $30.89 | $17.47 | $38.30 | $26.89 | $22.09 | $28.78 | $19.03 |
| Less than high school | $12.07 | $11.23 | $14.19 | $15.11 | $15.03 | $11.67 | $11.12 | $11.33 | $16.26 | $14.70 | $20.69 | $14.17 | $15.77 |
| High school | $15.93 | $13.07 | $17.05 | $17.95 | $18.10 | $14.91 | $13.15 | $15.02 | $18.56 | $22.09 | $20.98 | $21.21 | $18.89 |
| Some college | $17.10 | $13.50 | $21.74 | $19.01 | $19.97 | $17.93 | $15.10 | $15.61 | $19.96 | $27.89 | $21.97 | $21.97 | $19.19 |
| College degree | $27.39 | $19.12 | $27.89 | $22.88 | $20.91 | $28.50 | $20.88 | $20.07 | $34.43 | $34.96 | $26.02 | $34.67 | $20.08 |
| Advanced degree | $34.57 | $33.52 | $34.16 | $22.16 | $21.91 | $37.88 | $37.56 | $24.67 | $44.49 | $42.29 | $33.57 | $45.52 | $16.68 |
| White | $21.97 | $13.46 | $24.76 | $19.88 | $20.04 | $23.97 | $21.87 | $16.88 | $31.22 | $27.96 | $22.48 | $29.62 | $19.33 |
| Black | $16.80 | $12.59 | $17.94 | $17.16 | $16.37 | $16.01 | $16.77 | $15.05 | $22.45 | $25.09 | $19.48 | $19.63 | $15.56 |
| Hispanic | $15.99 | $13.05 | $22.44 | $17.06 | $16.12 | $17.02 | $16.85 | $15.09 | $22.13 | $22.24 | $22.17 | $19.68 | $17.58 |
| AAPI | $25.07 | $14.10 | $24.61 | $19.32 | $18.86 | $29.58 | $21.98 | $17.12 | $34.55 | $35.36 | $21.92 | $42.80 | $18.02 |
| Other | $16.78 | $12.93 | $19.25 | $17.05 | $17.39 | $15.21 | $14.55 | $14.40 | $22.34 | $30.27 | NA | $18.60 | $18.73 |
Note: Code for the definition of essential services used here is available upon request.
Source: Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.2 (2020), https://microdata.epi.org